Interview With Kevin O'Brien General Manager and Director of Golf LochenHeath Golf Club By Brian Weis

Interview With Kevin O'Brien General Manager and Director of Golf LochenHeath Golf Club

A Light Hearted Golf Q & A Interview

By Brian Weis

Below is an interview with Kevin O'Brien, the General Manager and Director of Golf at LochenHeath Golf Club. The following are a few traditional and non traditional golf centric questions that I love to ask influential people in the golf industry.

Can you provide our readers a brief biography?
I have been fortunate to be in the golf business for over 30 years as an assitant golf professional, head golf professional, director of golf and the last 14 years as a general manager.

When did you start golfing and who introduced you to the game?
when i was 11 years old. My father introduced me to the game. I fell in love with the game right away and could not get enough of the game.

What is your current home course?
LochenHeath Golf Club

To date, what is your proudest golf accomplishment?
Having one of the golf courses I managed from the inception be named to Golf Digest's list of "America's 100 Greatest Golf Courses."

What is your biggest golf pet peeve on or off the course?

What is your favorite club in your bag and why?
Putter
There is no better feeling making a long putt on your opponent when they think they have the hole won.

What is your favorite golf destination?
Ireland

What course is on your bucket list that you have not played yet?
Cypress Point and Augusta National

If you woke up tomorrow and could play one course you played before, where would you play?
Ballybunion Golf Club

If you could change one aspect, rule or thing about golf, what would it be and why?

Dream foursome (living)?
Myself, my father, son and Tom Watson.

Dream foursome (living or dead)?
Same

Favorite 19th hole drink?
A Stella Draft

18 Rapid Fire, Off The Cuff Questions

1) Hitting Long Drive OR Sinking Long Putt?
Lon Putt

2) Having Round of Life OR Hole in One?
Round of Life

3) Golfing at the crack of dawn OR twilight?
Twilight

4) Hit a power fade OR power draw?
Power fade

5) Beverage cart OR halfway house?
Beverage Cart

6) Bathroom OR bushes?
Bathroom

7) Hot dog OR wrap?
Hot Dog

8) Around the green, being in sand OR thick rough?
Sand

9) Walking OR riding?
Walking

10) Do you carry traditional 3 iron OR hybrid?
Hybrid

11) Do you prefer long par 3 OR long par 5?
Long par 3

12) Pants OR Shorts?
Pants

13) Palmer OR Nicklaus?
Palmer

14) Beatles OR Elvis?
Elvis

15) Play for fun OR play for money?
Money

16) Bump and run OR flop shot?
Flop

17) Lay up OR gamble?
gamble

18) 18 holes OR 36?
18

Revised: 07/20/2012 - Article Viewed 32,971 Times - View Course Profile

About: Brian Weis

Brian Weis is the mastermind behind GolfTrips.com, a vast network of golf travel and directory sites covering everything from the rolling fairways of Wisconsin to the sunbaked desert layouts of Arizona. If there’s a golf destination worth visiting, chances are, Brian has written about it, played it, or at the very least, found a way to justify a "business trip" there.

As a card-carrying member of the Golf Writers Association of America (GWAA), International Network of Golf (ING), Golf Travel Writers of America (GTWA), International Golf Travel Writers Association (IGTWA), and The Society of Hickory Golfers (SoHG), Brian has the credentials to prove that talking about golf is his full-time job. In 2016, his peers even handed him The Shaheen Cup, a prestigious award in golf travel writing—essentially the Masters green jacket for guys who don’t hit the range but still know where the best 19th holes are.

Brian’s love for golf goes way back. As a kid, he competed in junior and high school golf, only to realize that his dreams of a college golf scholarship had about the same odds as a 30-handicap making a hole-in-one. Instead, he took the more practical route—working on the West Bend Country Club grounds crew to fund his University of Wisconsin education. Little did he know that mowing greens and fixing divots would one day lead to a career writing about the best courses on the planet.

In 2004, Brian turned his golf passion into a business, launching GolfWisconsin.com. Three years later, he expanded his vision, and GolfTrips.com was born—a one-stop shop for golf travel junkies looking for their next tee time. Today, his empire spans all 50 states, and 20+ international destinations.

On the course, Brian is a weekend warrior who oscillates between a 5 and 9 handicap, depending on how much he's been traveling (or how generous he’s feeling with his scorecard). His signature move" A high, soft fade that his playing partners affectionately (or not-so-affectionately) call "The Weis Slice." But when he catches one clean, his 300+ yard drives remind everyone that while he may write about golf for a living, he can still send a ball into the next zip code with the best of them.

Whether he’s hunting down the best public courses, digging up hidden gems, or simply outdriving his buddies, Brian Weis is living proof that golf is more than a game—it’s a way of life.